To be Human
by JackOfAllTrades-MasterOfSome
Summary: A one-shot about Alex and his thoughts on humanity. T for light language.


_RUN. JUMP. CLIMB. CONSUME._

ZEUS was not always the being he has become.

_DODGE. COUNTER. CONSUME._

'What is it, to be human?' The being currently fighting monsters that could kill a dozen men in the blink of an eye with ease mused, effortlessly leaping over the pink beast's deadly clams, his arms already writhing in threads of biomass which dispersed within moments. He swung the heavy clubs which had replaced the limbs into the Hunter's skull, smashing it open. Instantly tendrils burst from his back, greedily seeking to consume the energy contained within the falling opponent. As he liquefied and absorbed what he could from the strange beast, the humanoid continued to think while his body continued to move, driven by instinct.

_RUN. DODGE. HIDE. DISGUISE._

A military officer walked casually out of an alleyway, paying no attention to the supersoldiers and helicopters above him. 'What is it that separates them from me?' Making his way to the base, the faux soldier watched as a child fell to the ground crying. His heightened sense of smell easily picked up the sickly-sweet scent of blood, but even his sharp eyesight could not find the source. The child's mother quickly made her way through the flood of people to crouch beside her child, gently pressing his head into the crook of her neck and making short, quiet shushing sounds. Lifting the smaller human easily off of the ground, the woman returned to the bench where her possessions lay. The soldier noticed now the wound's location; a small scrape on the child's knee. Reaching inside the leather bag-thousands of voices which were not his own screamed the word 'purse' inside the soldiers head-the woman produced a small tan rectangle. She wet a cloth and gently cleaned the child's injury before placing the rectangle across the wound-the same voices now screamed 'Band-Aid'-before ruffling the child's hair and placing a kiss onto the smaller human's forehead.

'What is it that makes them so different?' The soldier continued on his way, casually snapping the base commander's neck and assuming his form.

"Stop right fucking there!" A shout echoed from behind him, stopping the newly formed commander in his tracks. He turned his head and looked at the unfortunate person who had decided to challenge the ultimate weapon. "You…you're ZEUS, aren't you?" The disguised man said nothing. His challenger was clad not in the dark uniform of the malevolent Blackwatch organization, but instead in the camouflage of a simple marine. ZEUS's eyes slid over to the soldier's shoulder. It was bare. The man challenging the being who had killed countless high-ranking officials was being challenged by a mere private. ZEUS turned to face the man, not even glancing at the pistol pointing directly at where his heart would be. "I've been waiting a long time for this." The man scowled, his finger tightening on the trigger of his weapon. ZEUS merely tilted his head slightly and waited.

"Why?" The simple question was not what ZEUS had expected, and it hit harder than almost anything had before. Outwardly he affected no change, but internally he had no idea how to deal with the situation. Mistaking the silence of shock for one of dismissal, the private ground his teeth together and moved closer to ZEUS, placing the barrel of his weapon flush with ZEUS's chest.

"Why, the fuck, did you kill all of those people?" He hissed, pushing the metal into the other man's chest. ZEUS removed his disguise's sunglasses and stared at the young man.

"They were obstacles to the peace which so many have died for." Now ZEUS advanced on the man, forcing him to beat a hasty retreat. "No one I have killed is innocent of one crime or another." The private's back hit a wall. "And I don't intend to break that record now." ZEUS slammed his hand into the wall near the soldier's head, showing the shaking man what the legendary ZEUS was capable of. With that he replaced his sunglasses, spun on his heel, and left the alley as if it was simply part of his patrol. The private slumped to the ground, liquid warmth soaking the legs of his pants, and cried angry tears into his hands.

_CONSUME. LEARN. REPEAT._

ZEUS left the base amidst a storm of hot lead and heavy explosives, quickly losing even those who were fast enough to keep pace with him. He made his way across the city, leaping easily across large gaps and vaulting gracefully over any protrusions in the roofs of the buildings. He eventually reached a familiar rooftop where he finally stopped moving. ZEUS slid down the water tower which was stubbornly bolted to the concrete roof of the building which housed the reason he continued to fight, raised his knees to his forehead, and thought. Uncaring of the moon's gradual rise in the sunset sky, the man responsible for uncountable deaths continued to muse. His body's instinct to move, to hunt, to _consume_, gradually fell silent as if it felt his need for peace.

ZEUS was unaware of how long he sat there, a faux-man in a leather jacket and jeans under the night sky. He would have been content to stay in such a state for longer, until the door set into the protrusion of this particular building opened and his sister stepped out yawning. Still rubbing sleep out of her eyes and holding a cup of coffee in one hand, the woman observed the moon and what few stars she could see due to the ever-present lights of New York City. It wasn't long before her gaze turned to her brother's shadowy form. Wondering why he hadn't reacted to her presence yet, she began to move towards him, only to trip on the rise of her door's threshold. Her knee skidded across the rough concrete of her roof, and she let out a hiss of pain.

ZEUS was snapped out of his introspection by a scent he had come to hate more than any other; his sister's blood. Within moments he had risen to his feet and formed deadly claws out of his hands, seeking out the adversaries he was sure were present. When he found none, he turned his attention to his sister. Returning his hands to their normal shape, he hurried to her side. The redhead muttered a string of expletives which only increased in their intensity when she found herself picked up by her older brother and bundled into her house, where he proceeded to set her gently on the couch and disappear. She had barely managed to fold her limbs into a sitting position before her brother was back with two new items clutched in his hands; a wet cloth and bandages. She looked at her brother with questioning eyes which widened when he began to clean the long but shallow scrape along her thigh. After ensuring that the wound was clean, ZEUS wrapped the bandages around her leg, covering the injury in a spiral of white gauze. After ensuring that they would stay in place, ZEUS offered his hand to the girl sitting on her couch.

So what was the difference between ZEUS and humans?

After a moment of hesitation, Dana took his hand and pulled herself up to hug ZEUS.

When it came to his sister, there wasn't any.

Alex Mercer returned his sister's embrace whole-heartedly.

***The End***

**So, I guess that's it. Just a quick little drabble to get my feet wet and experiment with some literary techniques I've been kicking around. Please drop me a review. To make it easier, here's a checklist of things to say. You don't have to use it, just if you want to.**

**Did you like the fic overall?**

**What did you like the most? What did you dislike the most?**

**Were characters OOC?**

**What do you think could have been done better?**

**Thanks for reading!**

**JoATMoS**


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